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Campaigners have heavily criticised the Conservative party’s proposals for a combined annual quota on the number of refugees and immigrants allowed to settle in Britain, writes Amy Taylor.

The party’s plans to withdraw from the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention were also condemned.

Speaking in London, the party’s leader Michael Howard said that a quota was necessary as “immigration cannot continue at its present uncontrolled levels.” He explained that the limit would be determined by economic need, family reunion and the “moral obligation to genuine refugees.”

But Maeve Sherlock, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said that the plans failed to contribute or move the asylum debate in “any constructive way.”

“These proposals quite clearly will not offer refugees a safe haven in the UK.

“We need separate systems for refugees and for people coming here to work. An arbitrary limit on all immigration, including refugees, would put lives at risk and would damage our economy,” she said.

She added that the UN Refugee Convention saved millions of lives every year and was an “essential global safety net” that is reliant on the commitment of all countries in order for it to work.